Garden Of Poison-Chapter 257: Spending the night as a couple

Music Recommendation: Friedrich Dances with Jo - Alexandre Desplat

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When Emily was done slipping into her off-white nightgown, she carefully adjusted it to make sure nothing was out of place before stepping out from behind the wooden divider. Her bare feet moved across the cold marble floor, which remained chilly despite the logs of wood burning brightly in the fireplace.

Emily spotted Raylen on one side of the room, where he had poured himself a red-looking liquor into a glass. He had changed into a black shirt that resembled a river at night and black trousers. Upon hearing her footsteps, he turned with the glass in hand, taking a sip as he watched her. Her eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the unbuttoned top of his shirt, revealing the Archdemon’s smooth and muscular chest.

Raylen didn’t call her out because his blue eyes were carefully raking the contours of Emily’s figure as her silk gown hugged the curves of her body.

"Which side of the bed do you sleep on?" Emily asked, her gaze shifting to the bed that awaited them.

"The centre," Raylen replied, only to witness Emily turning flustered at his words. The woman was seducing him looking like that, he thought.

"I sleep on the—"

"Left side. I know," Raylen remarked, catching Emily off-guard with his response.

Despite being a princess with the privilege of having the entire bed to herself, somehow Emily had grown accustomed to taking the left side of the bed when she slept. She hadn’t expected him to know this, and she nodded in acknowledgment.

Emily noticed that Raylen did not look away even for a moment as he continued to stare at her, making her increasingly self-conscious. She felt a fluttering sensation in her stomach, and just before her knees could give way, she informed him,

"I will turn in then..." But she received no response in return, only seeing him continue to watch her.

However, when Emily took two steps to walk around the bed, she heard Raylen ask, "You are going to sleep like that?" Pausing in her tracks, she turned to face him. "You haven’t removed the pins from your hair or combed it, Princess," he gently reminded her.

Emily’s hand shot to her head as she realised he was right. She had completely forgotten about her hair in her haste to jump into the bed and hide under the covers. How could you have been so absent-minded? she chided herself and made her way to the dressing table. She found her belongings on one side and noticed the other side held items that belonged to Raylen.

Raylen observed Emily’s fingers fumbling in her hair, as if she were very aware of him watching her. It was quite evident that it was usually the maids who assisted her with this task. He raised his glass and finished the remainder of the liquor, which had hints of blood in it.

"Why don’t you take a seat?" Raylen suggested, his tone polished as he walked to where she was. Emily’s hand hung in midair at his words, and she turned to find him standing next to her. She watched as he pulled the chair out from in front of the dressing table.

"I do know how to remove the pins," Emily let him know, making it clear that she wasn’t incapable of doing so herself.

"You seem to have forgotten about letting your partner take care of you when he wishes to do so. All you have to do is ask. After all, you have a soulmate now," Raylen remarked, his head tilting slightly. As Emily took a seat, he pushed the chair forward for her.

Emily brought her hands to her lap, watching Raylen through the mirror as he came to stand beside her. His fingers soon began to skilfully pull the pins that had kept her dark blonde hair in place. A comfortable and intimate silence filled the room, with only the soft sound of the breeze passing by as it gently shook the windows.

"Was it always the maids who styled and brushed your hair?" Raylen inquired as he placed the pins on the dressing table, which softly clattered against the wooden surface.

"Yes," Emily replied. "You?" And her question brought a smile to both of their faces.

"Me? Well, I naturally have good hair presentation," Raylen joked before adding, "You are free to style it however you like, if you don’t like it."

"It looks fine the way it is," Emily murmured. There had been several occasions when she had observed him weaving his fingers through his hair.

"I have spread the news throughout the kingdom about us being soulmates," Raylen revealed, and their eyes met in the mirror’s reflection. "Though some of them heard about it last night, I thought it was better to put it out there rather than have the rumour mill run wild. It will keep the stalker on his toes."

That was true, Emily thought to herself. Whoever was trying to steal her soul would now have to think more than twice before attempting to approach her again. She hadn’t heard anything about it from Janelle, who had visited her earlier that day, which would mean Raylen had sent out the news afterwards.

Though it did make Emily wonder if the stalker had attended the ball held the previous evening. Could he have been bold enough to do so?

"Before I woke up, I felt like I had a dream," Emily shared with a pensive expression. "It felt like he visited me. Or more like waiting to take my soul..."

"You shouldn’t fear him," Raylen reassured her. "He is a rat who hides in the shadows. And, if it makes you feel any better, your soul is mine. No one else can stake a claim on it—not God, not the Devil. No one. Just me," he stated, before letting her hair down. Instead of using the comb to detangle her hair, he used his fingers. He gently wove them through her hair as if she were a glass doll, starting from her scalp before moving to the length of her hair.

Feeling Raylen’s fingers that gently massaged her scalp, Emily couldn’t help but close her eyes. Her shoulders relaxed, yet her toes curled as his touch tickled her senses.

After five minutes, Raylen said, "There you go, Princess. All ready for bed."

Emily felt him place something over her right shoulder, and when she opened her eyes, she noticed he had braided her hair. Where did he even learn to do that? Was it another skill he had learned over the years? She couldn’t resist looking at him, silently questioning whom he had practised on before.

"Is there something you want to ask?" Raylen asked, already able to deduce what might be going on in that pretty head of hers.

Emily was no petty woman, and she didn’t need an explanation when the answer was apparent. Turning in her seat, she gazed up at him and asked, "Will Viktor return? To persuade you to go back to Hell?"

Raylen offered her a warm smile and replied, "He will, especially considering his visit here was cut short due to whoever wreaked havoc in Hell in his absence. Now that my soul is linked to a mortal of this realm, with you, he’s not foolish enough to be unaware that his original purpose has been thwarted."

"He said he visited you before..." before Raylen had been set up for the witch hunt trial. "Do you think he misses you?" Emily asked him, curious about Viktor’s feelings.

"When he remembers, probably," Raylen joked with a chuckle. The smile on his lips faltered slightly, and he walked over to the right side of the bed. Emily stood up, walked to the other side of the bed, and heard him say, "He visited me many times, like a ghost that appeared when no one was around. Since I was a young boy, from when I started to wander outside the castle. I didn’t know who he was then, but he did."

"How was he back then?" Emily asked.

Raylen wore a thoughtful expression before he answered, "As annoying as he is now." He raised his hand and, with a single wave, extinguished all the candles except for the ones around the bedside.

As if it were an indication to go to sleep, Emily climbed onto her side of the bed. As she lifted the blanket, she realised it wasn’t just the bed Raylen and she would be sharing but also the blanket. Her body slid beneath the covers before she pulled the blanket up to her nose.

It was then that she realised the reason for the ’protection’ had left the castle, and the truth was that they didn’t have to share the room. Slow Lily, Emily said in her mind. What did you think was going to happen? she asked herself. This wasn’t the first time they were sharing a bed, because they had when she had fallen sic— Raylen slipped under the blanket and blew out the candle on his bedside table.

Emily could feel her heart beginning to race at the closeness they were sharing in the almost dark room. The bed was spacious enough to leave a good amount of space between them, yet for some reason, she found the blanket to be cold.

"Goodnight, Princess," Raylen said softly.

"Goodnight, Ray," Emily murmured from behind the blanket.

While Emily had often felt like an awkward duck in Raylen’s presence before, she knew she was now in the safest place, not only in this realm but any other, with him right beside her. As the candles by her side began to dim, her eyelids began to grow heavy.

As the night continued, Emily was gradually lulled to sleep by the comforting crackling of the fireplace and the wind blowing beyond the castle walls. In her dream, she was chased by a faceless figure, which abruptly woke her up in the now pitch-dark room, as all the candles had fizzled out.

She noticed the windows had frosted over, indicating that it had snowed again. Feeling a shiver run down her spine, she carefully grasped the edge of the blanket before fully wrapping herself in it. However, just as she settled in to go back to sleep, the blanket unexpectedly slipped away from her, as if it were being pulled by the other person in the bed in search of warmth.

"Raylen... are you awake? Raylen?" Emily’s voice barely escaped her lips as a whisper. This was no time for playful antics with the blanket.

Receiving no response from Raylen, she grasped the blanket once more, feeling the grip tighten on the other end. One, two, three! She tugged forcefully on the blanket, determined to claim its warmth.

But the warmth she received was more than she had asked for, for it wasn’t just the blanket that wrapped around her body but also Raylen’s arm that encircled her waist from behind.

"...!" A soft gasp escaped Emily’s lips in response to this unexpected embrace. Her eyes widened. She knew the wicked demon wasn’t asleep!

"A little rough with the blanket there," Raylen murmured from right behind her, his voice possessing an alluring and irresistibly masculine quality that made one want to obey.

Feeling her body starting to heat up, Emily quickly responded, "I think we should have two blankets."

"Are you planning to bake into a loaf with two blankets?" Raylen inquired, making no attempt to move away or release her waist.

"You are planning to turn me into an ice sculpture," Emily retorted, and when she tried to move forward, the Archdemon drew her back snugly against his chest.

"I think I am keeping you warm just fine," he remarked with a hint of amusement in his voice. Then, he gently instructed, "Now close your eyes and go back to sleep." How was she supposed to sleep like this?!